Apple to stop shipping Mac Pro in Europe on March 1

A new "pro product" won't be ready until later this year.

Apple informed its European distributors that it will stop shipping its Mac Pro workstations throughout the EU beginning March 1. Apple confirmed to Macworld UK that the existing Mac Pro design doesn't conform to a new EU safety standard which goes into effect on March 1, so the company will no longer sell them in Europe. A new "pro product" to replace the existing Mac Pro won't be available until sometime "later this year."

At issue is EU safety regulation IEC 60950-1, which applies to all EU, EU candidate, and European Free Trade Association countries. A recent amendment to the regulation adds additional safety requirements for computers and other electronics, which the existing Mac Pro doesn't meet.

"The new requirements necessitate fan guards and some increased protection on the ports on the electrical system," Apple told Macworld UK. "Because Mac Pro is not compliant with the regulations, we do want to meet that regulation and therefore [will] not offer Mac Pro beyond March 1."

Apple will accept orders for the Mac Pro until February 18 in order to ensure the workstations are shipped out by February 28 to beat the March 1 deadline. Existing reseller stock can still be sold beyond the deadline, however. The announcement also only affects European customers; Apple will continue to sell the existing Mac Pro, which has only seen a very minor update since 2010, in other territories around the world.

Oddly enough, the IEC 60950-1 Amendment 1 was originally published in 2009, long before the existing Mac Pro was released. Surely Apple could have changed the design to conform to the new regulations in the last three years, but the existing tower design was essentially designed over ten years ago when it was first launched as the PowerMac G5 in 2003.

Pro users have long been concerned that Apple may be abandoning the pro market since the Mac Pro hasn't been upgraded in over two years. Its older processors languish behind the performance of the latest Xeon-based workstations from the likes of Dell and HP, and it doesn't include newer peripheral connections like USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt.

Several months ago Apple CEO Tim Cook promised that a new product specifically for pro users would be coming in 2013. Apple declined to give any further information about a potential Mac Pro replacement except to reiterate that it was "working on a pro product for later this year." Perhaps the company had originally expected to have a new Mac Pro replacement before the regulation went into effect but decided instead to wait for updated Xeon processors based on Intel's much more efficient Ivy Bridge architecture expected in the second half of this year.

100 Reader Comments

It's well-known that a new Mac Pro is in the works, but this fact, combined with last year's tepid update after two years without one, has got to grate on those who rely on these machines for their work. They're locked into a vendor who doesn't seem to make them a priority.

Okay, I was undecided before, but if it does come to a referendum on Europe, the UK should just GET OUT!

We can't buy the pro machine because you might stick your fingers in the fans?

Fucking hell, doesn't anyone in Brussels have anything to do all day on their 6 figure salaries but mess around with what you're allowed to call chocolate, drawing up draft specifications for how curvy a banana needs to be and paying farmers to grow food nobody will buy?

As the article points out Apple has treated pro users like trash for a long time now, so this is hardly surprising, and probably has minimal impact anyway. I'm sure there are still some poor souls out there who are forced through gritted teeth to buy a few more of the ludicrously outdated, overpriced 2010 MPs Apple is selling right now, but there shouldn't (I hope) be too many of them. Apple will toss out one more lazy revision at least since they promised, but their distaste for that entire market and its users has been made abundantly clear. Professional work and business requires long term planning and a certain degree of dependability, not getting jerked around at random, so anyone who really needs the capabilities is probably forming a transition plan to Linux or Windows like Apple wants anyway.

Okay, I was undecided before, but if it does come to a referendum on Europe, the UK should just GET OUT!

Apple not giving a shit about keeping up with 4 year old standards is your reason to abandon the market and nuke the UK's economy? Hopefully most of the electorate over there has a slightly more nuanced view of the situation.

If Apple waits until the back end of 2013 to update, will they still have anyone left waiting to upgrade? If they've shot themselves in the foot with Final Cut, and a good portion of people started migrating to Premiere Pro- and now they're cutting the EU off- what's to stop everyone from migrating from Macs to PCs?

Look, I don't have enough money to update my Mac Pro 1,1, but I don't really need to : it continues to meet my needs (and I've upgraded a few things over the years)

So I'm not going to talk about the product offering, because I obviously am satisfied with my Mac Pro.

HOWEVER,

I'd like to make an open suggestion to Apple:

You've said you were going to make computers in the US : why not roll out an enterprise grade client that's built in the US? The added cost of manufacturing would be eaten by the corporate vs. consumer price difference, and it would allow you (by doing it "at home") to make changes to the product offering a bit easier.

You've got the cash, and I know you've got the ability: I'd LOVE to see an actual workstation with thunderbolt. And I'd love to see some effort put into keeping workstation users happy, and I think an obvious way to do that would be to introduce an "xMac" (small workstation form factor) and a new larger Pro system (replacing the Mac Pro) and let us at it!

I think we've all given up on the server side of things, and that's a shame, but please let us have our workstations back and modern!

Sure, it probably doesn't make much money but I'm surprised Apple isn't more keen on having a high end machine and the halo effect that it generates. Perhaps it isn't a big deal with computers but I know that in things like camera retail, the fact that Nikon and Canon are so widely used by pro photographers certainly helps to drive sales in the low and mid range.

It's well-known that a new Mac Pro is in the works, but this fact, combined with last year's tepid update after two years without one, has got to grate on those who rely on these machines for their work. They're locked into a vendor who doesn't seem to make them a priority.

What improvements would you like to see? Sure, new processors would allow it to do the exact same things faster, but if that's your only concern it isn't much. Do you want Apple to make it thin? They are good at that these days :-)

Apple only cares about the consumer market now. If pros use their gear, well that’s fine and all, but they’re not going to go out of their way to support them.

Don’t believe me? See Final Cut X

I'm pretty sure there are plenty of professional editors out there that would disagree with that assessment. The Final Cut Pro X launch itself was poorly handled, no questions, but the app itself is used by pros on a daily basis.

Hmmm...it's a media saturated world, and Apple/Pixar/Disney touch a lot of content.

Oh, and APPLE makes hardware and software well suited for creating and/or working with said content.

Maybe some bean counters came up with financial models that suggest Apple doesn't make big $$ with new Mac Pros, but even if true, that's short sighted IMO.

You do know HP sells the most workstations of any vendor on the planet... It may be true that Apple does have some pro sales around some of these technologies, but by a large margin a lot of the grunt work is done on PCs, some running linux/unix environment and some running windows.

Sure, it probably doesn't make much money but I'm surprised Apple isn't more keen on having a high end machine and the halo effect that it generates. Perhaps it isn't a big deal with computers but I know that in things like camera retail, the fact that Nikon and Canon are so widely used by pro photographers certainly helps to drive sales in the low and mid range.

This isn't the 1980s. The 'halo' effect came from the iPod and now iOS devices. Consumers are in the driver's seat, not IT pros.

Why is Apple withdrawing the Mac Pro from markets that is not subject to these regulations?

I can't believe Ars would confuse the continent of Europe with the EU (and in this case EFTA), so that can't be it.

Might be, because Apple's Sales and Distribution is located within the EU, most of the European, non-EU sales are handled from there. Also, many non-european countries are adhering to (many) EU-standards and regulations.

The writing has been on the wall for many years. Their server line was EoL'd, with Apple claiming laptop-class hardware would be a suitable replacement...

What's more, with the success of the iPhone and iPad, I wouldn't be surprised if they stop making traditional computers all together in just a few more years. They're the kind of company that throws a bunch of products at the wall, sees what sticks, and drops the rest without a second thought. Not the kind of company you can depend on for ANYTHING except their own most-profitable self-interest.

Sure, it probably doesn't make much money but I'm surprised Apple isn't more keen on having a high end machine and the halo effect that it generates. Perhaps it isn't a big deal with computers but I know that in things like camera retail, the fact that Nikon and Canon are so widely used by pro photographers certainly helps to drive sales in the low and mid range.

This isn't the 1980s. The 'halo' effect came from the iPod and now iOS devices. Consumers are in the driver's seat, not IT pros.

Consumers, sure. But how about people that work. And if you consider sending email and reading is working, then...well... no words...

People that actually work need more than just a fancy tablet or phone with flashing icons.

[quote="passivesmoking"]Okay, I was undecided before, but if it does come to a referendum on Europe, the UK should just GET OUT!

We can't buy the pro machine because you might stick your fingers in the fans?

I think if you took the time to look at the good regulation that come out of Europe you would be surpprised and do you assume the UK standards if independent wouldn't comply with these safety directives, it may surprise you to know that Europe is the UK's largest trading partner. Are we to stop trading so you can stick your fingers into fan grills, no I thought not.

I live in Berlin and I am very concerned by the knee jerk reactions some of my countrymen eject with regard to Europe, believe me we were not better off before we joined, I remember.

The EU needs a lot of work and the UK should be at the heart of it with all its know how, not sitting outside moaning.

The writing has been on the wall for many years. Their server line was EoL'd, with Apple claiming laptop-class hardware would be a suitable replacement...

What's more, with the success of the iPhone and iPad, I wouldn't be surprised if they stop making traditional computers all together in just a few more years. They're the kind of company that throws a bunch of products at the wall, sees what sticks, and drops the rest without a second thought. Not the kind of company you can depend on for ANYTHING except their own most-profitable self-interest.

I'm expecting the 'headless imac' to finally appear, being sold as a mini-tower mac pro.

Hmmm...it's a media saturated world, and Apple/Pixar/Disney touch a lot of content.

Oh, and APPLE makes hardware and software well suited for creating and/or working with said content.

Maybe some bean counters came up with financial models that suggest Apple doesn't make big $$ with new Mac Pros, but even if true, that's short sighted IMO.

You do know HP sells the most workstations of any vendor on the planet... It may be true that Apple does have some pro sales around some of these technologies, but by a large margin a lot of the grunt work is done on PCs, some running linux/unix environment and some running windows.

I personally have ported a few recording studios over the past 10 years to windows enviroments (nuendo) and lately, linux (well not so much as porting but upgrading to Harrison boards). I can say that at least in music production, Apple has alienated a big chunk of its "pro" users. I expect lots of performers (specially new ones) to also look at wintel systems with new eyes, now that windows tablets can truly benefit from a huge daw/plugin ecosystem without sacrificing reliability and processing power.

Honestly if you really want or need a Mac Pro at this point you're probably better off just building a Hackintosh. If you part it right it'll work out of the box and it'll be faster and cheaper than the current Mac Pro lineup. I really can't see why Apple would let the workhorse of their line languish for so long. Do they not realize that the people that create the content that all their iOS users consume are probably Mac Pro users?